But for the right wing faction of the U.S., that ringing wasn’t wedding bells, but a death knell.

Bryan Fischer

Perhaps one of the most outrageous declarations came from Bryan Fisher, “director of issue analysis” for the so-called American Family Association. Fischer called the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the marriage appeals “the Dred Scott of gay marriage” and said that marriage equality is “as morally bankrupt and indefensible as the institution of slavery. Slavery ate away at America’s soul, and homosexual marriage will do the same thing, It is a deviant and grotesque caricature of the real thing. For this sexual debauchery to be normalized by the highest court in the land is a sign of the nation plunging headlong into a bottomless moral abyss.”

Jeremy Hooper, special projects consultant for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said that sometimes the best way to rebut what someone says is to get out of the way and just let them keep talking. So let me step aside and let the wingnuts speak. …

Liberty Council Founder and Chairman Matt Staver declared, “Everyone will be affected by same-sex marriage because it is an intolerant agenda that will directly collide with religious freedom.”

The Family Research Council predicted that “more and more people [will] lose their livelihoods because they refuse to not just tolerate but celebrate same-sex marriage,” adding that the Supreme Court’s decision “will allow rogue lower court judges who have ignored history and true legal precedent to silence the elected representatives of the people and the voice of the people themselves by overturning state provisions on marriage. Even more alarming, lower court judges are undermining our form of government and the rights and freedoms of citizens to govern themselves. This judicially led effort to force same sex ‘marriage’ on people will have negative consequences for our republic, not only as it relates to natural marriage but also undermining the rule of and respect for law.”

FRC did not that the court’s rejection of the appeals “ensures that the debate over natural marriage will continue and the good news is that time is not on the side of those who want to redefine marriage.”

The National Organization for Marriage called for passage of a national marriage amendment: “…the only alternative to letting unelected judges impose their view of marriage on Americans across the country is to pursue a process that will allow the American people to decide for themselves what is marriage. It is critical not only to marriage but to the republican form of government in this country to amend the Constitution to reaffirm the meaning of marriage. We therefore call on the US Congress to move forward immediately to send a federal marriage amendment to the states for ratification.”

“Marriage has always been — and will always be — between a man and a woman. Ultimately, no court can change that truth,” Focus on the Family’s statement said. “So regardless of legal outcomes, we’ll continue to address the importance of one-man, one-woman marriage to families, society and especially for children who have a right to both a mother and a father. Our concern continues to be for children who deserve to grow up with both a mom and a dad, as well as for the religious freedom rights of people who strongly believe in God’s design for marriage and want to live consistently with those beliefs.”

Gov. Rick Perry

Social conservatives are uneasy about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s comments last week in Aspen, Colo., when the likely GOP presidential candidate said he was OK with New York’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage because it’s a states’ rights issue.

Real Clear Politics reports that while conservatives are generally federalists who support the idea of leaving it to the states on many issues, social conservatives favor a Federal Marriage Amendment.

“His comments were inartful and disappointing,” Gary Bauer, president of American Values, told Real Clear Politics. “The 10th Amendment and states’ rights is very important to conservatives, but it’s not our highest value. There are some things so fundamentally wrong that we have not left those things up to the states.”

Oran Smith, president of an anti-gay group in the early primary state of South Carolina, told Real Clear Politics that Perry’s comments could mean he is also “slippery” on other issues (gee, ya think?). And our old friend Bob Van der Plaats, president of the Iowa Family Leader, said he hopes Perry’s comments were “more of an education issue … .” LOL.

Even Bryan Fischer, a spokesman for the American Family Association — the anti-gay hate group that is funding Perry’s day of prayer in Houston on Aug. 6 — told The Texas Independent that Perry “missed an opportunity here for him to stress the importance of natural marriage and the negative consequences for children when same-sex marriages are legitimized.”

It’s always amusing when anti-gay politicians are criticized by their own base for not being anti-gay enough, but we’re here to tell you that in Perry’s case, social conservatives have nothing to worry about.

So rest easy, bigots, because he’s probably just working on a Plan B: If he’s ever outed as a gay man, he wants to be able to move to state where he can marry his partner.

Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer is the director of issues analysis for the American Family Association, which is funding Gov. Rick Perry’s Day of Prayer event at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Aug. 6.

Right Wing Watch has posted the above compilation of clips from Fischer’s radio show, featuring some of his most precious “issues analysis.” (Read RWW’s full report on Fischer here.)

Meanwhile, on Thursday night, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell took a look at Fischer’s hatred in the context of Perry’s decision to partner with the AFA for the Day of Prayer. Peter Montgomery, a senior fellow at People for the American Way, has this to say in the video below: “In his [Fischer's] world, gays are Nazis who should be prevented from holding office in the United States. President Obama is a fascist dictator. The constitution does not apply to Muslims — they should be deported from the country. Native Americans deserve to be killed and thrown off their land because they didn’t convert to Christianity quickly enough. People can read our report and see that this is the kind of stuff that’s on Bryan Fischer’s show all the time, and it’s outrageous that Gov. Perry chose them to sponsor and pay for his divisive and exclusionary event.”

UPDATE: Fischer says he believes criticism of Perry’s AFA-funded Day of Prayer amounts to “a hate crime.” We’ve posted video of those remarks after the jump.

Bryan Fischer

I want to say thanks to whoever emailed me the YouTube link to the video below, which was posted online by RightWingWatch.org.

The video is basically audio of a rant by Bryan Fischer, host of Focal Point on the AFA (American Family Association) Channel, in which Fischer explains why “Homosexuals are Nazis.” Never mind that the Nazis targeted the gays and lesbians in Germany for extermination along with the Jews and other groups. Never mind that gays and lesbians — and transgenders and bisexuals — are targeted daily by bigots and homophobes who deny us equal treatment under the law, who deny us protection against discrimination in housing and employment, and who way too often get away with harassing us verbally and physically attacking us, leaving many of us seriously injured if not dead.

Never mind all that, Mr. Fischer says. Because we refuse to sit idly by and allow their hatred against us to go unchallenged, we are Nazis. It makes my blood boil!

So why would I want to listen to this homophobic jerk’s rant? Why would I post it here on Instant Tea? Because the best advice in any battle is, “Know thine enemy.” So here you go. Now, where did I leave my jackboots?